Production of electricity and heat: documentation of statistics
The documentation of the statistics describes how the statistics were compiled and what methods were used in the compilation. The data help interpret the figures of the statistics and evaluate their reliability and comparability. The quality report is based on the EU's SIMS model. The documentation also contains change releases describing changes in the statistics and possible specifying methodological descriptions.
If you are looking for statistical figures for these statistics, go to the statistics page: Production of electricity and heat
Quality report
Data description (SIMS 3.1)
The statistics on production of electricity and heat describe the production of electricity and heat as well as fuels used in production in Finland. The data are collected with an inquiry and published once a year.
Sector coverage (SIMS 3.3)
The production data on electricity and heat give a comprehensive picture of the electricity produced in Finland as well as of district and industrial heat and the fuels included in them.
The coverage of separate electricity production, combined heat and power production and the fuels included in them is very good (around 100%).
In terms of separate heat production, the data are not entirely exhaustive: small producers of heat, for example, in industry and municipalities are missing from the data. In addition, households’ and public services’ (e.g. schools) own boilers are missing completely from the statistics.
Statistical unit (SIMS 3.5)
Energy production data are collected by plant area, which refers to a power plant entity located in the same area. The plant area may consist of one or more sites. The data are produced by plant unit so that in the same plant area, each power plant process has its own production and fuel data. The basic unit is thus a power plant or heating plant process.
Statistical population (SIMS 3.6)
The population of the statistics consists of electricity and heat producers. The statistics cover all electricity producers connected to the electricity grid, including producers of combined heat and power. For separate heat production the limit is an annual production of 10,000 MWh or a heat production capacity of five MW (total for plant area). It is possible to deviate from these limits if the plant area in question is particularly significant in its branch of industry or municipality of location, for example. Each plant area is associated to a site and an enterprise. Enterprise data derive from the Business Register. The challenge when it comes to some site data is that not all remotely controlled power plants have staff or turnover, which means that they are not necessarily included in the Business Register.
Reference area (SIMS 3.7)
The data are collected from Finland, inclusive of Åland. Each plant (power plant, heating plant) is combined with a site, the location of which is defined at the municipal level. The data produced in the publication tables have been aggregated to the national level.
Time coverage (SIMS 3.8)
Electricity production by production mode covers from 1960 onwards. Electricity and heat production by fuel covers from the year 2000 onwards.
The data are final, but some small corrections or specifications will occasionally occur in the fuel data, for example.
Unit of measure (SIMS 4)
The statistics on production of electricity and heat are published in gigawatt hours (GWh, one gigawatt hour is one million kilowatt hours) and as a percentage of total production and consumption.
Fuel consumption in electricity and heat production is published in terajoules and as a percentage share of total fuel consumption.
The change from the previous year as percentages is also published for all data.
Reference period (SIMS 5)
Electricity and heat production data are published once a year and cover a calendar year.
Classifications (SIMS 3.2)
The classification used is Statistics Finland’s fuel classification. In addition, the Standard Industrial Classification is used.
Concepts and definitions (SIMS 3.4)
Coal
Coal has been formed from plant residues hundreds of millions of years ago. In energy statistics coal refers to the energy sources of charcoal (1211,1212), lignite (1221), other coal (1222,1228,1229), coke, and blast furnace and coke oven gases obtained as a by-product from the production of iron.
Combined heat and power production
This refers to combined heat and power production where backpressure or bled steam is utilised as district or process heat, and to electricity generation in engine or gas turbine-operated production machinery where the heat of exhaust gases or the cooling water is used as an energy source. Higher efficiency ratios are achieved with combined production than with separate production, in other words, better use is made of the fuels needed in the production.
Condensing power
Electric energy produced by cooling down steam with water without using the heat energy of the steam.
District heat
Heat generated by power plants, heating boilers or heating plants that is transmitted through a district heating network to heat buildings and produce hot water.
Fossil fuels
Fossil fuels refer to fuels that have been formed of biomass and stored underground millions of years ago. Fossil fuels include coal, lignite, natural gas and fuel oils refined from crude oil. In international classifications peat is often classified as fossil fuel, although it is a clearly younger fuel than them.
Industrial heat/steam
Industrial steam or heat produced by power plants of heating boilers which is utilised in industrial production processes (such as drying or heating). Includes the heat produced for heating own industrial building that is not transmitted through a district heating network.
Petajoule
Petajoule (PJ) is a unit of energy used for expressing the energy contents of fuels and other energy sources. 1 PJ = 1,000 TJ; 1 TJ = 0.278 GWh
Renewable energy sources
A common feature of renewable energy sources is that their sustainable use does not deplete their stocks in the long term. The renewable energy sources used in Finland are hydro and wind power, solar energy, aerothermal energy and ground heat captured by heat pumps, biogas, biodegradable parts of recovered and waste fuels, wood-based fuels, and other vegetable and animal-based fuels.
Separate heat production
Separate heat production refers to the production of heat by heating plants, heating boilers and transportable heating plants designed for the generation of heat only. Separate production of heat also comprises the heat recovered direct from boilers through reduction valves at separate electricity generation plants or combined heat and electricity production plants.
Separate production of electricity
Separate production of electricity refers to the generation of electricity in thermal and nuclear power plants, separate production with gas turbines and combustions engines, and hydro and wind power. Separate production also refers to the volume of electricity corresponding to the condensing load produced during off-peak heat load periods at combined heat and power plants, and supplementary production with auxiliary condensers.
Terajoule
Terajoule (TJ) is a measurement unit of energy that is often used to express the energy content of fuels. 1 TJ = 0.278 GWh
Terawatt hour
Terawatt hour (TWh)is a unit of energy used for expressing the amount of produced energy, electricity and heat. 1 TWh = 1,000 GWh = 1,000,000 MWh = 1,000,000 000 kWh; 1 TJ = 0.278 GWh
Total energy used
Total energy used refers to fuels, and hydro, wind and nuclear power used in the generation of electricity and heat made commensurate into primary energy. Hydro power and wind power are made commensurate with fuels according to directly obtained electricity (3.6 PJ/TWh) and nuclear energy at the efficiency ratio of 33 per cent from produced nuclear power (10.91 TJ/GWh). The practice complies with the international method used for calculations in energy statistics.
Institutional mandate (SIMS 6)
The compilation of statistics is guided by the Statistics Act. The Statistics Act contains provisions on collection of data, processing of data and the obligation to provide data. Besides the Statistics Act, the General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act and the Act on the Openness of Government Activities are applied to processing of data when producing statistics.
Statistics Finland compiles statistics in line with the EU’s regulations applicable to statistics, which steer the statistical agencies of all EU Member States.
Further information: Statistical legislation
Legal acts and other agreements (SIMS 6.1)
The compilation of statistics is guided by the Statistics Act. The Statistics Act contains provisions on collection of data, processing of data and the obligation to provide data. Besides the Statistics Act, the Data Protection Act and the Act on the Openness of Government Activities are applied to processing of data when producing statistics.
Statistics Finland compiles statistics in line with the EU’s regulations applicable to statistics, which steer the statistical agencies of all EU Member States.
Further information: Statistical legislation
Data sharing (SIMS 6.2)
The data collection is carried out with an annual inquiry on production of heat to which data providers respond electronically with a web form. The data are saved in the database and checked and, if necessary, modified. Statistics Finland has reduced enterprises' response burden by removing all electricity producers from the inquiry. These data are obtained from Finnish Energy’s electricity production survey.
Finnish Energy has a statistical cooperation agreement with Statistics Finland, according to which Finnish Energy collects data on electricity production and district heating activity and submits them to Statistics Finland.
In addition, data on some smaller heating plants are obtained from the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities or Finnish Energy’s statistics on district heating.
Finnish Energy publishes statistics on electricity production and district heating. Coherence of the data with the data published by Statistics Finland is ensured by regular contact.
Comparison data for fuel data are available, for example, from the Natural Resources Institute Finland (wood fuels), the Energy Authority (emissions trading data) and the environmental administration’s YLVA database.
The data obtained from the Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE) are used to specify the use data on wood fuels obtained from other sources and, on the other hand, LUKE's data can be supplemented and specified with Statistics Finland's data. This coordinated cooperation ensures the coherence of LUKE's and Statistics Finland's data.
The data of the Energy Authority, the environmental administration and Finnish Energy are not only used to specify energy statistics but also in the greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory. By plant-specific comparison, the fuel data estimated to be the most reliable for each plant are selected in cooperation with the GHG inventory if the data obtained from different sources differ from one another. This procedure ensures the coherence of data released by energy statistics and the GHG inventory.
Cost and burden (SIMS 16)
Efforts have been made to minimise the response burden so that there is no overlapping data collection.
Source data (SIMS 18.1)
The raw data are slightly more detailed than the published data. For example, separate heat production is so-called reduction heat produced in combined heat and power plants and is collected separately but in the published data reduction heat is combined with heat produced in heating plants. Similarly, fuel-specific data are more detailed in the raw data than in the releases.
Frequency of data collection (SIMS 18.2)
The data are collected once a year.
Data collection (SIMS 18.3)
Statistics Finland's inquiry on the production of heat is carried out as a web inquiry.
Data validation (SIMS 18.4)
During the data collection and production of statistics, Statistics Finland is constantly in contact with data providers, such as Finnish Energy and also, where necessary, with individual plants and collectively also with the Natural Resources Institute Finland in order to ensure the coherence and correctness of the data.
Comparison and benchmarking of fuel consumption with Statistics Finland's GHG inventory data is an essential part of quality assurance. This benchmarking is made by comparing plant-specific data and finally in terms of total consumption fuel-specifically.
Data compilation (SIMS 18.5)
The data obtained from Finnish Energy are transferred to the production database using data transmission programs (SAS EG). The data of Statistics Finland's web inquiry on production of heat are automatically transferred to the production database. Data for individual plants are also transferred manually to the production database.
Imputation and comparison of data between fuel data from different sources are carried out either in separate files, which contain plant-specific data on fuels from Finnish Energy, the Energy Authority’s emissions trading data and the environmental administration’s YLVA database or in the production database by manual comparison. As a result of the comparison, possible necessary specifications and imputations are made manually to the production database.
Once the data have been benchmarked and validated, a database cube is made from which the necessary aggregated data are obtained for the StatFin tables, the Energy Statistics table service and international reporting.
User needs (SIMS 12.1)
The data of the statistics are used at Eurostat, in international organisations (e.g. the OECD/IEA and the UN) and in Finland's public administration to monitor and analyse the supply and use of energy. Research institutes use the data as input data of models for assessing the efficiency of energy policy measures, for example from the viewpoint of energy dependency, renewable energy sources and the development of greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector.
User satisfaction (SIMS 12.2)
The availability and quality of data are developed based on feedback received from users. With some important users (e.g. the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment) regular meetings are organised, at which the quality and development needs of the statistics are discussed.
Overall accuracy (SIMS 13.1)
There is very little possibility for error in the production of electricity. The coverage of measured and reported production is clearly over 99 per cent of total production. In electricity production by fuel and production mode, the margin of error is hardly higher than this, apart from production of solar power, which is obtained as a combination of measured and modelled data.
The reported production of district heat does not cover all small municipalities, but the total margin of error (the difference between the reported and actual total production) has been estimated to be at most one to two per cent of total production. The error in the reported data is of the same magnitude as in the production of electricity.
The coverage is not as good in the production of industrial heat as in district heat. The error in the reported data can be slightly bigger than in district heat, because the production of industrial heat is not necessarily measured, except for sold industrial heat. Statistical bias may arise in the production of industrial heat, because it may sometimes be difficult to separate the production of industrial heat from the final consumption of fuels in manufacturing. This is not a problem for sold industrial heat but in order to avoid bias, industrial heat produced by manufacturing for own use should be examined together with total energy use in manufacturing: Energy use in manufacturing.
Quality assurance (SIMS 11.1)
Quality management requires comprehensive guidance of activities. The European Statistics Code of Practice forms the basis for the common quality system of the European Statistical System.
The Code of Practice is based on 16 principles that concern statistical authorities' independence, accountability and the quality of the processes and data to be published.
The principles are in line with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics approved by the United Nations Statistics Commission and are supplementary to them. The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice.
Further information: European Statistics Code of Practice | Statistics Finland and Recommendations of the Advisory Board of Official Statistics of Finland | Statistics Finland
Quality assessment (SIMS 11.2)
Assessment of the correctness and coverage of the data by examining partially overlapping data obtained from various sources combined with ensuring internal consistency of the data fully ensures that Statistics Finland's quality criteria are met.
For example, the following general statistical methods are used in assessing the quality of the data:
- comparison of plant-specific data with data from previous years
- comparison of plant-specific data between different data sources
- comparison of data collectively between different data sources.
In addition, the following quality assurance measures that are specific to the statistics are performed in the statistics on production of electricity and heat:
- review of plant efficiency ratios, also compared to the time series
- review of construction rates of combined heat and power plants and comparison with previous years
- consistency between plant production and capacity
Data revision - policy (SIMS 17.1)
Revisions – i.e. improvements in the accuracy of statistical data already published – are a normal feature of statistical production and result in improved quality of statistics. The principle is that statistical data are based on the best available data and information concerning the statistical phenomenon. On the other hand, the revisions are communicated as transparently as possible in advance. Advance communication ensures that the users can prepare for the data revisions.
The reason why data in statistical releases become revised is often caused by the data becoming supplemented. Then the new, revised statistical figure is based on a wider information basis and describes the phenomenon more accurately than before.
Revisions of statistical data may also be caused by the calculation method used, such as annual benchmarking or updating of weight structures. Changes of base years and used classifications may also cause revisions to data.
Data revision - practice (SIMS 17.2)
All changes are updated into the database in connection with the following release at the latest. Changes bigger than minor can be updated into the database during the publication cycle as well.
Timeliness (SIMS 14.1)
The data are published for each calendar year approximately 11 months from the end of the year in question.
Punctuality (SIMS 14.2)
There is no time lag in the statistics on production of electricity and heat; the data were published according to the release calendar.
Comparability - geographical (SIMS 15.1)
The statistics on production of electricity and heat are comparable with corresponding statistics of other EU and OECD countries due to common definitions stated in the Regulation on energy statistics and in the OECD/IEA reporting guidelines. There may be some differences in combined heat and power production due to the practice always used in Finland to make a clear distinction between combined electricity production and separate electricity production even if a combined heat and power plant also produces separate electricity (so-called condensing power). In international energy statistics, all countries cannot separate combined electricity production from all electricity produced in combined heat and power plants. In this respect Statistics Finland's data are thus more accurate than those of other countries on average. However, this affects comparability only when examining electricity production on a fairly detailed level. Total electricity production is the most internationally comparable of all figures in energy statistics.
In international statistics, only sold heat and related fuels are reported in heat production. Heat produced for own use in manufacturing is not reported, but the fuels related to it are included in energy use in manufacturing. In corresponding statistics in Finland, heat produced by manufacturing in the transformation sector is recorded as heat production and corresponding fuels as input in the transformation sector.
The export and import volumes of electricity can be compared reflected against Estonia, Sweden, Norway and Russia. The quantities are measured, so there are no major differences between them. Deviations may be caused by transmission loss due to the geographical location of the measurements: electricity exported from Finland to Sweden is measured in Finland, but Sweden measures the same electricity imported from Finland in Sweden.
Comparability - over time (SIMS 15.2)
The time series of the statistics are comparable as concerns the production of electricity. In production of district and industrial heat, comparability is not quite as good because small district heating plants and producers of industrial heat have been added annually to the data collection throughout the 2000s. When examining individual plants, the data concerning the time series are comparable throughout the 2000s. In the most important fuel groups (hard coal, natural gas, oil, renewable fuels) the comparability of the time series in the 2000s is, however, so good that the trends of relative shares of fuels in electricity and heat production can be clearly and reliably identified in the statistics.
Coherence – cross domain (SIMS 15.3)
In addition to Statistics Finland, statistics on production of electricity and heat are mainly produced by Finnish Energy, which publishes statistics on electricity production and district heating statistics.
Finnish Energy’s statistics on the production of electricity are fully coherent with Statistics Finland's corresponding set of statistics. There are minor differences in details of the distribution of electricity production with regard to electricity produced in connection with industrial and district heat production.
The district heating statistics of Finnish Energy cover only district heating and related fuels of member companies/corporations of said organisation. Statistics Finland's production of district heat also includes production and fuel data of several dozen smaller heating plants.
Emissions caused by energy production form a central part of the GHG inventory. Emissions from production of electricity and heat form a significant part of the inventory. The statistics on production of electricity and heat are fully coherent with the GHG inventory concerning emissions caused by fuel consumption in the production of electricity and heat.
Coherence - internal (SIMS 15.4)
Energy statistics form a coherent entity, where various parts are used to form, for example, the national energy balance and for example, the figures of the statistics on production of electricity are used in the statistics on energy supply and consumption. Thus, the coherence between different sets of energy statistics is good.
Release calendar (SIMS 8.1)
Statistics Finland publishes new statistical data at 8 am on weekdays in its web service. The release times of statistics are given in advance in the release calendar available in the web service. The data become public after they have been updated in the web service.
Further information: Publication principles for statistics at Statistics Finland
Release calendar access (SIMS 8.2)
Statistics Finland's release calendar Future publications
Future publications of the statistics can be found on the page of the statistics at: Future publications
User access (SIMS 8.3)
The data are released to all users at the same time. Statistical data may be processed at Statistics Finland and information on them may be given before release only by persons involved in the production of the statistics concerned or who need the data of the statistics concerned in their own work before the data are published.
Further information: Publication principles for statistics
Unless otherwise specifically stated in connection with the product, data or service concerned, Statistics Finland is the producer and copyright owner of the data. The terms of use for statistical data.
Frequency of dissemination (SIMS 9)
The statistics are published annually. Possible revisions to data for earlier years are released at the same time as the latest data. In extremely exceptional cases (e.g. erroneous data), data in the database tables may also be changed at other times.
News release (SIMS 10.1)
The release is published annually on the home page of the statistics.
The statistical release of the statistics on production of electricity and heat is not typically accompanied by a press release.
Publications (SIMS 10.2)
Some of the data of the statistics on production of electricity and heat are published in the Energy Statistics table service and in a pocket book (Energy in Finland), which is published annually in August/September. The table service data are updated annually in January to April (the data for 2020 were updated in spring 2022).
Parts of the statistics on production of electricity and heat are also published in Eurostat's and the IEA's energy databases.
Online database (SIMS 10.3)
The database tables of the statistics can be found in the StatFin database.
Statistics on electricity and heat production are published in the following seven StatFin tables:
11sr -- Production of electricity
12a3 -- Fuel consumption in electricity and heat production in Finland
12b4 -- Electricity production by source and total consumption
12b7 -- Production of district heat in Finland
12b8 -- Production of industrial heat in Finland
13ir -- Electricity and heat production and fuels by mode of production
13j5 -- Electricity and heat production by production mode and fuel
Micro-data access (SIMS 10.4)
Unit-level data of the statistics are used only for producing the statistics and others than the compilers of the statistics do not have access to micro data.
Documentation on methodology (SIMS 10.6)
The methodological description of the statistics on production of electricity and heat is part of the quality description of the statistics.
Confidentiality - policy (SIMS 7.1)
The data protection of data collected for statistical purposes is guaranteed. The compilation of statistics is guided by the Statistics Act. Alongside the Statistics Act, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and the Finnish Data Protection Act are applied to the processing of personal data. Provisions on the confidentiality of data collected for statistical purposes are laid down in the Act on the Openness of Government Activities.
The data are processed only by persons who need the data in their work. The use of data is restricted by usage rights. All persons employed by Statistics Finland have signed a pledge of secrecy, where they have obliged to keep secret the data prescribed as confidential by virtue of the Statistics Act or the Act on the Openness of Government Activities.
Further information: Data protection | Statistics Finland (stat.fi)
Confidentiality - data treatment (SIMS 7.2)
The publication tables of the statistics on production of electricity and heat have been produced by aggregating plant data to the national level and by using the fuel classification at such a rough level that small cell frequencies cannot be generated.
The data of the statistics are not released outside Statistics Finland in identifiable form. Use of the data for scientific research and statistical surveys is possible only on the basis of a separate application for licence to use statistical data and in unidentifiable form.
Further information about user licences.